Cutlery



Jr R. BALDER April 2, 1940.l

CUTLERY Original Filed May 29, 193'? 25 qualities.

' f' ,fon-irs,

eUTLERY- Saldern., Stratford, Conn., assigner to g Remington ArmsCompany, Inc., a corporation j `Aet; DelawareA apprises-fm14 Mayes;issvjsenai No. 145,546 Ren'cwedfcbruargm 20;.1940i2 sciame' '(01.1 'en-.154) I y tionl-inwhich referencei's'hadxtozth'e accompanyfiy Thisinvention relatesto'A the artof andmeans forretarding rust and corrosiononthe baresteel surfaces of-facutting'fbl'ade' and cooperative steelparts-in an implement-"of cutlery, Ipartlcularly a pocketkniie whereinthe contiguity-'of-I suon parts andthe una-voidalzyle"k presence ofmoisture are highly' conducive-to"suchr rustn and corrosionr As commonlyconstructed, theblades-*and the blade positioning springs,` oif'a pocket`knife are '1 subject to rubbing engagement withJ each other,

' andarefurther subject tocontact ancl-l` sliding engagementwithmetallic liningsY or` partitions' in the h'ollow'handle of the'knife", whichY linings u orY partitions` are commonly' known asi scalesand-between'whichscalesthefblades of the-knife v are pocketed orsheathed when foldedi into closed relation to the handle.

f Anobject of: the invention is to reduce the tendency of the-cuttingblade and its cooperative positioning spring to vrust when thesevparts/arev made of gradesof high carbon steel'best" capable ofsupporting a good'cutting 'edge and of possessing goodv spring action',`such steel beingr preferably l unalloyed with any metals detrimental tothese ySo-called. stainless steel not only is less' satisfactory in'these qualities' but is: more costly. y I-'Ienc'era companion objectisftcproduce a ',cnmparatively rust-proof knife: which "ati thesamejtim'e i's'more economical to"ina'nufactu1e.

Anotl'ier object of" thel invention vis' to 'retard' rusting orcorrosion of baresurfac'edsteel worlfz-y ing parts such as thevcuttingbla'deof a folding knife without coating the'. surface ofi' thelblade with any' a higher natural electric potential than that.

possessed by the metal or metals comprising the bodies of the parts. l

A specic object of the invention is to protect f.

the cutting blade or' blades of a pocket knife from rust or'corrosionfrom the above causes by coating the adjacent surfaces of the/scales ofpeculiarly eiiective for the purpose, Whichprop# erties have beendiscovered to reside in the metals, zinc and cadmium.

These and other objects of the invention will be clearly understood fromthe following'v descrip st preventive material'diierent fromV 35V thatof which itsbody is composed;` l l A further' object is to Vretarde"ctrooliemical' theknife with a material possessing propertiesingdrawing wl'ierein:-` i l Figi. lisan-edgeW-ise View of; a-twobladepoclcet leni-feeembedying the present: improvements, in',

which oneofi the bladesaisfshown in-openvposition dii:

and the other blade is closed.; y l K'Fi'g. 2 isf-aside elevation of theknifewit'ii the bladesposition'edas-inEig. l. y

f Seis a-View ci the handle portion-'oliithey taisenv in cross sectionon the longitudinal 102;:

plahe'itl-Slvinflligi ll look-ingr in1 the direction or the arrowstliefopen blade-beingpartiallybroken- Fig. 1i is a sectional Viewtaken'om the planesin-lzFiga arrows andisdrawnl on a-muchenla'zgedEscale.

Fig; 5f1i's1aperspective-viewo' one ot scalesl or partitionsfof: theknife*handlel structure de. taehed''irom itskassociatedpar-tsaI j Figi'li's a sectionall view drawn on scale 20g. intermediate'that off` Fig;1y a-nd- Fig.v l and isy taken inthe-'planes S-B in- Fig. .3 lookinginthe' direction of the arrows, showing on'lyftlieseal'eandtheJ exteriorparts-of the-handle which are riveted thereto.v 'l

'l is a transversesectionalviewv through a# scale of' the kniie drawn tomuch larger pre-V. portions-than iii-Fig. toillus-trate the metallicceatingthereon; f

l. While theprinciples which underlie tliese'im 3932.

provementsmay bev availc-:dmqv any--article eff cutlery whereina steelblad'eissheatliedlor peck eted so as to lie partly in contact-'with orveryclosetolthemetallic-lining of an enclosing struc ture,theyare'illustrated-` herein as embodiedin the-'conventional arrangementci the-parts ei pocketfk-ni-f-e having thea'large'blade lili-and thesmaller blade Il. A l f Therh'alndlestruct-ure of the knifel cempr-isesalcentral partition scale l2 interposed between 40 the blades from endto end ci the handle and two similar composite exterior walls each offwhose structure may be as represented in Fig. 6.V

i Each wall structure may comprise `a lining scale p I3 to each end ofwhich are secured respectively 45 the tips or holsters i4 and l5providing a longi-` tudinal recess therebetween which may be lled with abody I6 of bone, horn, or any other material suitable to be grasped bythe hand andsep l.purposes which will hereinafter be more fully ex`plained and lin keeping with important Aobjectives 55 if. looking in.the. direction.- es the s of this invention. This coating is indicatedat 24.

A cantilever spring IT, commonly of the shape shown in Fig. 3, isinterposed between the partition scale l2 and one of the lining scalesi3, and a similarly shaped but narrower spring i8 is similarlypositioned between the partition scale l2 and the other lining scale I3.The left end of springs H and i8 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, are rigid with andserve to space the said vthree scales being secured therebetween bythrough-rivets i9. A similar rivet 20 extends transversely through theentire handle structure including springs il and i8 near the centralportion of the latter. The right ends of springs ll and E8 bear upwardlyagainst the tangs 2l and 22 respectively of blades i and il, being freeto slide somewhat between the scales.

A pintle 23 serves as common pivot for both blades in the well knownmanner which blades are thus adapted to fold between open and closedpositions by swinging while in actual contact with, or closelycontiguous to, the scales of the handle structure which ank them. Fig. 4makes plain that portions of the blades remote from their pivoted endsmay also contact or lie closely adjacent the handle scales.

It has long been a problem to contend successfully with the strongtendency to rust and corrosion which is aggravated by the juxtapositionof parts illustrated in Fig. 4 when moisture is present, as is bound tobe the case from many wet uses to which a pocket knife is put and fromits habitual nearness to body moisture when carried on the person.

Heretofore corrosion and rusting of liners and. scales has been obviatedby making these parts of such difficulty corrodible metals as brass andnickel silver. These metals are relatively expensive, and experimentsleading to the present invention have shown that in close proximity tothe back springs and blades of a pocket knife when carried on the personthey actually accelerate rusting of the steel parts.

It has been found that the rusting of steel back springs and especiallysteel blades in an implement of the type of a pocket knife is minimizedand often substantially prevented by the use of scales or linerssurfaced with a metal having an electrical potential which is positivewith respect to the potential of iron. Outstanding among such metals arecadmium and Zinc. An accelerated rusting test, conducted by exposingsamples to a salt spray for a period of a few hours, gave substantiallyno rusting of blades in recesses having zinc-surfaced scales; whereas,scales having surfaces of metals having a potential which is negativewith respect to iron showed very destructive rusting.

'I'he knife with the blades closed may be regarded as an electrolyticcell, of which the scale and the blades form poles separated by a narrowgap of moist and impure air. Outside of the cell the blade and scale areshort-circuited through the blade tang and blade pivot. The flow of thecurrent within the cell is from the zinc scale to the blade; thus,electrolytic action does not tend to attack and remove the material ofthe blade as it does when the flow of current is away from the blade.

Within the present invention, scales may be made wholly of zinc or othermetal having an electrical potential higher than that of iron, butpreferably they are made from such a relatively inexpensive material assoft iron or mild steel which has been surface coated with the metal ofhigher potential by any well-known coating process which is effective toprovide a continuous and adherent coating. The coating is preferablyapplied while the metal is in strip or sheet form, and scale blanks ofproper conguration are struck from the coated sheet. A substantialimprovement in the quality of articles of the type of pocket knives asheretofore described is thus brought about simultaneously with amaterial reduction in manufacturing cost.

In its broader scope the invention is not limited to the method hereinproposed by which zinc may be interposed between the steel parts of aknife, nor to any particular manner of coating the surface of the scalesof a knife with zinc or corresponding metal, wherefore the appendedclaims are to be interpreted as inclusive of all means which may comewithin their terms for seizing upon the principles employed in theseimprovements.

I claim:

l. In an implement of cutlery in combination, a handle structureincluding a scale, a ferrous metal blade pivotally connected to thehandle structure to swing in a plane contiguous to but spaced from saidscale, and a coating of zinc covering the surface of said scale facingsaid blade, whereby corrosion of said blade is substantially inhibited.

2. In a pocket knife including a hollow handle, scales lining theinterior of said handle, a steel blade foldable into pocketed and spacedrelation to said handle between said scales, and a coating of zinccarried on the surfaces of said scales facing said blade, wherebycorrosion of said steel blade is substantially inhibited.

3. A pocket knife comprising a steel back spring, a steel blade, and ascale in spaced relation to said blade having a surface of zinc facingsaid blade, whereby corrosion of said steel parts is substantiallyinhibited.

JOHN R. BAIDER.

